A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Jenny Barta stepped up in a big way during the pandemic
Public health nurse and county Covid-19 expert Jenny Barta (front row, second from left) received a national Never Quit Service Award from the AFSCME union. She is pictured here with her immediate family, county commissioners and local AFSCME representative Tom Shay (right), who nominated her.
Public health nurse and county Covid-19 expert Jenny Barta speaks at the County Board meeting this week.
Carlton County's Jenny Barta has never worked harder than she has during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the public health nurse met the challenge head-on.
"This is what I was called for, this is what I was born to do," said Barta, who also acts as the county's disease prevention and control coordinator. When the pandemic began, Barta added another job to her list of duties: subject matter expert for Covid-19.
Barta has been a huge part of the county's response to the pandemic, which has received attention on statewide and national levels for its collaborative and innovative efforts, including the drive-thru vaccine clinics for influenza - a practice run - and then Covid-19, which the county organized in a matter of days once the vaccines were approved.
The public health nurse was honored at Tuesday's Carlton County board of commissioners meeting for receiving the national American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Never Quit Service Award.
She spoke through tears to the crowd at the county board meeting Tuesday. "I am so grateful to the department and the people I work with to make it possible to protect our Carlton County people," she said. "We still need to complete the job."
Barta said she was born in northeastern Minnesota and finds it an honor and a privilege to serve the public and promote an innovative program for vaccination response in Carlton County. Her husband, her children and her in-laws were there for the presentation.
On behalf of AFSCME, Tom Shay of the county information technology department introduced Barta and the award Tuesday.
"Jenny has volunteered countless hours of her personal time to make sure the local program works smoothly," Shay said. "After vaccination clinics, she has spent long periods of time wrapping up the details when other staff has gone home. She could not have done this without the support of her family."
Public Health and Human Services director Dave Lee spoke on a video put together by AFSCME.
"Jenny keeps going day after day, week after week, month after month," Lee said. "She is very much driven by 'she's got a job to do, she's got people to serve.' She wants people to be healthy and safe and vaccinated and have all the tools that they need to keep themselves and their family and their community safe and healthy."
AFSCME president Lee Saunders called Barta an "everyday hero" in his video speech.
Barta said she was happy to do what she could in a time of great need.
"It was the greatest challenge of my career but so fulfilling to be able to be a part of this and be able to work with such an amazing team" Barta said in the AFSCME video. "I'm hoping we can keep those relationships we built ... we're still here to support you."
Prior to the award ceremony, Barta and Joanne Erspamer presented the monthly Covid update to the board. Barta noted Tuesday that Covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations in Minnesota are on the rise, but Carlton County recently dropped back to "moderate" transmission on June 2, after being designated as an area of high transmission by the CDC on May 19. But Covid is still making its presence known. Barta said Carlton County has 89-plus cases from May to early June. In the last week, there were four new hospitalizations from Covid.
In the regional area, home testing kits are available from the state, and there is still regular testing at the DECC in Duluth. She said the county is also working with Sappi and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on upcoming vaccination clinics.
In other county news
• County board chair Gary Peterson noted that applications for 2022 outstanding male and female Carlton County senior citizens are available by contacting Peterson at 218-380-4949. Locals on that selection committee are Shirley Goodwin, Barb Dahl, Jim Calhoun, Linda Langness, Jennie Hanson and Peterson. Anyone interested in joining the committee should contact a committee member.
Nominees should be at least 70 or older, and the award is based on what they've done for others in a given organization or the community after reaching the age of 60.
• As the county shifts from totally county-owned to leased vehicles, county assessor Kyle Holmes reports that 14 of the 16 vehicles he has supervised up to this point have been sold at a return of $81,000. The two newest vehicles are still being used by staff and will be sold at a later date for an anticipated larger price per unit. The money brought in will defray the costs of implementing the lease program with Enterprise.
"With surging fuel prices, there is not a better time to shift to leased vehicles and get more-fuel-efficient units," Holmes said.
The average mileage with the current fleet is 27 miles per gallon, compared to 21 mpg with the old fleet. The vehicles are safer because they are all-wheel-drive. Transportation department staff are freed up to work on other projects. Leasing the vehicles ensures a higher equity in value at the end of the 39-month lease period when new vehicles can be considered.
Editor Jana Peterson contributed to this story.
